The Swimming City -- Andras Gyorfi

Peter Thiel, the founder of payment service PayPal, is investing in what he calls his most ambitious project yet: the creation of artificial libertarian islands in international waters, free from international laws, regulations or moral codes. He recently donated $1.25 million to the Seasteading Institute, a startup led by former Google engineer Patri Friedman that will helm the project.Any of these winning entries (click through to see the winners) from the Seastead Design Contest could become real now that Thiel has invested.

These artificial 12,000-ton massive structures of islands will be movable and diesel-powered, built 200 miles off the coast of San Francisco, and will house tens of millions of seasteading residents by 2050. The investors will launch an office park off the San Francisco coast in a year and are planning first settlements in the island seven years later.

Could this be the start of a new surge of micro states flourishing in international waters, or are we actively building Lord of the Flies-style settlements for people to run wild in?